As you go through life, nothing is more important than keeping your commitments. As a child, if we wanted a pet, we promised to feed and care for the animal. And what happened when your parents had to step up and take over? Did they like that? As we got a little older, we learned the importance of completing homework assignments in school and we made our families proud when we graduated.
Keeping our commitments gives us a sense of accomplishment. It builds trust and strengthens relationships. Whether or not a person can keep their commitments is a good way to measure their integrity.
Let’s use attendance as an example. When a youngster doesn’t make it to school, they fall behind on the curriculum. They must spend EXTRA time making up for the lost training and never regain the same level of comprehension as they may have had by participating in the actual “live” class. When people miss work, they place an unfair burden on those individuals who DID manage to make it in, by increasing their workload. Their absence puts stress on the morale of the entire department, and staff members that consistently show up for work tend to resent the person that’s absent. Granted, most people are tolerant and understanding about the occasional absence, as it happens to them as well. Brand-new employees are in a difficult position, because the absence is compounded: They are missing out on training AND have created additional work for staff that are already spread thin. It doesn’t take long for new employees to fall out of favor with hard-working, dedicated employees.
Communication is key to building a bridge when it comes to keeping commitments. The individual needs to know exactly what they are committing to by having a good understanding of the expectations. Kids need to know that while puppies are “fun”, they require a tremendous amount of training, feeding, walking, and even cleaning up accidents. Young people learn that graduation from high school requires a higher level of commitment: from showing up for class, to learning the material, to being able to pass a test. As adults, our employer makes the expectations crystal-clear by providing an employee handbook with all of the benefits AND all of the expectations of a new job. Asking additional questions and gathering information is then the responsibility of the individual.
The bottom line is, when we do not keep a commitment or we break a promise, we will disappoint someone and tarnish the relationship. Just as you are disappointed if someone fails to keep their commitment to you.
If you have additional questions or feedback, drop me an email!
No responses yet